Cash register



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. T. BAGKUS.

CASH RRGISTRR AND INDICATOR.

No. 596,973. Patented Jan. 11,1898.

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

L. T. BACKUS. CASH REGSTER AND INDICATOR.

No. 596,973. PatentedJan. 11,1898.

THE NoRms PEYEHS C04 PHOYOMTHO., WASHINGTON, u. cv

UNITED STATES LAVREN CE T. BACKUS,

PATENT t OF ATCHISON, KANSAS.

CASH REGBSTER AND lNDlCATGr..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters atent No. 596,973, dated January 11, 1898.

Application filed March 16, 1894. Renewed March 31, 1896. Serial No. 585,665. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE T. BAcKUs, of Atchison, in the county of Atchison and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cash-Indicators; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to cash-registers, and has particular reference to that class ol machines in which the amount of a purchase is indicated and registered by the movement oi' a lever to a greater or less extent, according` to the value of said purchase.

The object of my invention is to produce a registering and indicating` mechanism which is simple in construction, comparatively cheap in cost, and which is provided with means for audibly distinguishing between different amounts registered.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of my machine provided with two levers, one of which is adapted to register and indicate varying amounts 'from ve cents or multiples thereof to one dollar, the other lever being connected with mech anism to register and indicate amounts of one dollar and multiples thereof. Fig. 2 is a section on the dotted line in Fig. l, looking in the direction of arrows 2 Fig. 3 is a section on the same line, looking in the direction of the arrows 3 3. Fig. l is a detail section on the line 4. 4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the indicating-plate. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of the catch-releasing bar.

Similar reference-letters indicate similar parts in the several views.

A is the casing of the machine, in the lower part of which is the money-drawer, fitted to slide freely in suitable ways. The front portion of the upper part of the casing is pro vided with two slots a and a2, through one of which, preferably the right-hand one d2, projects the operating-lever for the cents-registering mechanism. This latter mechanism alone will be described in detail, and it will be understood that the mechanism at the left side of the casing is similar in all respects to that which will be described, but bears dilferent iigures to register and indicate dollars.

One edge of the slot a2 is provided with twenty notches d3, and the front wall of the casing opposite said notches bears the numerals from 5 and its multiples up to l( 100.77

0n a pin or rod Z), secured in the casing, is freely mounted a lever 15, having a handle b. A spring b2 is coiled around the rod b and has one end bent under the lever and its other end held by any suitable means, as a pin hl, said spring serving to press the lever upward toward the upper end of its slot. A latch b5 is pivoted to the handle b and is provided with a handle Zf, adjacent to the lever-handle b', so that both may be grasped simultaneously, said latch being adapted to engage either of the notches d3, being pressed toward said notches by a spring 57. This latch has a projecting toe 5S, 'l'or the purpose hereina'l ter described. A little above the upper end of the slot a2 and slightly to one side thereof the casing is provided with an opening c. Attached to the lever l) and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom is the curved indicating-plate C, bearing the numerals 5 and its multiples to 100, said numerals being spaced equally to the notches a3 and the numbers being in the reverse order from the numbers of the outside et the casing, whereby when the lever is depressed until the latch b5 engages any one of the notches the same numeral on the indicating-plate will show through the opening e, as the numeral on the casing opposite the engaged notch. This indicating-plate if extending directly back from the lever and in line therewith would show its numerals through the upper end of the slot a2 when the lever is depressed. Therefore the said plate is provided with an offset ear c, said ear being attached to the lever, 'thus bringing the plate under the opening c, which is at one side of the line of the slot d2.

1t is to be understood that the moneydrawer is free to be withdrawn at any time and before the operation of the machine.

IOO

In order to automatically close all of the notches a3, so that the lever B will be moved to the upper end of the slot a2 by the action of the spring b2, I provide a catch-releasing bar D. This bar is a curved plate fitted to the inside of the casing and provided with inclined slots d, through which studs or screws pass into the inside of the casing. Owingto the inclined slots, the bar D when it moves up or down moves also slightly laterally, sufliciently when in its uppermost position to present its smooth edge cl/ slightly beyond the notches a3, so that the latch b5 will be released or pushed ont from the notch with which it has been engaged and the lever B released to be moved upward by its spring. l.Vhen the bar ,D drops, it also moves away-from and across the notches, whereby the latch b5 may be engaged with any one of said notches. The bar D may descend by gravity or it may have a spring to aid its descent. To effect the lifting of the bar, a plate d2, having an inclined edge d3, is attached to the drawer a, and said inclined edge d3 is adapted to operate against the inclined lug d on the lower end of the bar D.

It will now be understood that when the drawer is opened the bar D will descend and leave the notches a3 free to be engaged by the latch b5, and when the drawer is pushed in or closed the bar D is lifted and immediately moves across said notches, pushing the latch b5 out of the notch in which it has been left, and the lever B will return to its uppermost position.

As will be readily understood, since the bar D closes the notches or detents and prevents the latch from entering anyone of them during the return of the lever, it also prevents the toe 58, which is carried bysaid latch, from sounding any of the reeds during such return movement.

In order to audiblyindicate the notch with which the lever has been engaged, attach a set of reeds e to the inside of the casing, said reeds being of different lengths, and consequently of different tones, and attached to a supporting-bar c. The free ends of these reeds are arranged in an are concentric with the pivotal point of the lever B, and therefore their supporting-bar is eccentric to said point. rhe free ends of the reeds are located in a radial line with the notches a3, and the projecting toe bs of the latch, when the latter enters one of said notches, picks over the end of the proper reed and gives asound that will indicate the amount of the registry to the proprietor, who may be at some little distance from the clerk who is operating the register. Freely mounted on the rod l) is a ratchetwheel f, having its edge toothed and having its side marked with numerals from 5 and its multiples up to 500. A. pawl f is attached to the lever B and adapted to engage the toothed ratchet f and move the latter. A detent-pawl is indicated at f2. On the hub of the ratchet f is a pin f3, adapted at each revolution of the ratchet f to engage one of forty notches in the wheel f1. This latter wheel is provided with numerals 'from 5 and its multiples up to 200 and indicates dollars.

To the inside of the easing is secured a pointer g, its end extending toward the point of intersection of the wheels fand f4. `When the machine is at 0, the nulneral on the wheel f, which shows past the wheel f1, will be 500 (or live dollars) and the numeral on the wheel f1 opposite this point will be 200.

Thel first registry of an amount purchased will bring the proper indicatiiig-numerals on the wheel f past the edge of the wheel f4, and continued operations of the machine will turn the wheel f until the amount, iive dollars, has been registered. Then the pin f3 causes the wheel f4 to move one step and bring the numeral 5 on the latter opposite the pointer g. If the next operation of the lever B is to register iiity cents, the 50 on the wheel f' will be brought past the edge o wheel f1, and thus there will be indicated at the point of intersection of the two wheels, opposite the pointer g, the amount, iive dollars and iifty cents. The pointer g is so shaped or beveled that its upper edge underscores or deiines the two amounts on the two wheels that are to be read together. From this it will be readily understood that the proprietor on opening the end of the casing or looking through an opening therein, which may be provided opposite said point of intersection of the wheels, may at once see the total amount which has been registered.

A detent for the wheel f1 is shown at The operations of the parts which are not obvious having been already described a further description of the operation is unnece, sary.

.Vhile in Fig. l I have illustrated the upper part of the easing A. as of the same width as the base or the money-drawer a, it is to be understood that it may be much narrower, since the indicating and registering` mechanisms are of a very compact form. The wheels f and f" overlap each other, and the lever B, mounted on the rod or spindle of and close to one of the wheels, extends directly through the slot in the casing. Thus all oi the parts of each set et' mechanisms are brought into compact relationship, and the two sets for the dollars and cents may be arranged within a space much narrower than in machines where an indicating-cylinder is employed or a horizontal set of independent indicators.

Having new described my invention, what I claim isl. A cash-register comprising in its construction a lever for operating the registering mechanism, a latch connected with the lever, a series of detents for said latch, a series of reeds of different tones located adjacent to said detents, and a projection from said latch adapted to sound the reed corresponding with either one of the detents engaged by the latch.

IOO

IIO

59eme s and hold the latch and the toe t8 at one side of the series of signals, whereby said toe is prevented from sounding the signals during the return movement of the lever.

3. A cash-register comprising in its construction a slotted casing having a series of detents or notches at one side of the slot and an opening separate from said slot, a lever extending through said slot and carrying a latch adapted to engage said notches, a plate inside the casing and attached to said lever and having numerals adapted to show through said opening, a movable plate adapted to be moved across or recede from said notches, a series of audible signals adjacent to said notches, and registering mechanism operated by said lever, substantially as described.

fi. In a cash-indicator, the combination with a slotted casing having a series of detents or notches at one side of the slot, of a lever eX- tendin'g through said slot and carrying a latch adapted to engage said notches, indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, a series of audible signals located inside the casing adjacent to said notches, and

. a projection from said latch adapted to engage i attached to said lever and bearing numerals adapted to show through an opening in the casing.

6. ln a cash-register, the combination with a'casing having a slot in its front and a series of detents or notches at one side of the slot, of a single lever extending directly through said slot and carrying a laterally-movable latch adapted to engage said notches, a laterallymovable plate adapted to be moved across or recede from said notches, and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, substantially as described.

7. ln a cash-register, the combination with a casinghavin a slot in its front and a series of detents or notches at one side of the slot, of a single lever extending directly through said slot and carrying a laterally-movable latch adapted to engage said notches, a laterallymovable plate adapted to be moved across or recede from said notches, a drawer, means carried by said drawer for moving said plate, and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, substantially as described.

8. In a cash-register, the combination with the drawer, and the casing having the slot provided with notches a3 in its edge, of the lever B having a latch to engage said notches, the plate or bar D fitting the inside of the casing and having inclined slots d, projections from the casing entering said slots CZ, and means operated by the drawer to elevate said bar to canse it to move across the notches as, substantially as described.

9. ln a cash-register, the combination with the casing having the slot provided with notches as, of the lever B having a latch to engage said notches, and having a pawl f', the ratchet-wheel f having a pin f3 on its hub and having numerals on its side, the notched wheel f4 overlapping the wheel f and adapted to be moved by the pin f3 and also having numerals on its side, and the pointer g having its edge adapted to define the numerals on the two wheels that are to be read together.

ln testimony whereof l afliX my signature in presence ot' two subscribing witnesses.

LAXVRENCE T. BACKUS. `Witnessesz A. W. HARRISON, HARRY Y. Davis. 

